Lost Souls
by Lonesome Courier
Summary: Death threats are nothing new in the Mojave. They're about as common as geckos and deathclaws. But when 16-year-old orphan Natalia Smirnoff receives one from an associate of Benny's, she knows she must do something quickly before she ends up in a shallow grave. Meanwhile, the Courier (Calamity Jane) must face off against one of her greatest rivals, Courier Five a.k.a Ulysses.


Lost Souls

"Well damn it all to hell." Calamity Jane muttered to herself, setting down her sniper rifle. She had tanned skin with a burnt patch on her nose. A slight Mojave breeze whistled through her messy brunette bun.

Jane stood top of a cliff, the edge quite a ways down. She looked down the cliff at a man who was wearing a long denim jacket, with thirteen white stars surrounded by a blue circle and faded red stripes on the back. On his face, he wore what looked like a gas mask. He had dark brown ringlets that stopped at the top of his mask.

The man had briefly glanced up at her. Fortunately, Jane had been able to back away from the cliff before he could get a good look at her.

"I'll get you, Ulysses," She said watching him as he left the canyon," I'll get you."

 _I was born with lightning in my heels_

 _Sewed a spur onto my ankle_

 _Bitter horse under the steel_

* * *

In New Vegas, specifically the Atomic Wrangler, there was a little girl who was particularly good at winning. She had short, light ginger hair with freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks. The girl sat at a table with several adults that were much older than her.

There were tables all around them, each with a bouncer to maintain control. At the girl's table were three men and three other women, excluding the young redhead. Everyone else was wearing their Sunday best, but not the short ginger. Instead, she sported a red tank top underneath a dark brown leather jacket. On the lower half of her body she had black cargo pants and matching military boots.

The only person who hadn't folded was a middle aged man in a navy blue suit and hat. His shoes were very shiny and didn't look like they had ever been introduced to dirt. His expression was smug and he had every right to be. Especially considering everyone else save for himself and the young ginger had folded. However, what he didn't know was that the young ginger held the winning hand.

"You ready to end this game yet, girlie?" The middle aged man asked, running a hand through his graying hair. He was an associate of Benny, the leader of the Chairman.

The young ginger grinned as she looked at her cards, "I am when you are, old man." She leaned back in her chair, watching the expressions of the other players out of her peripheral vision. They ranged from apprehension to surprise.

The man lay down his hand on the table and grinned, "Full House, Smirnoff. Although I have to say, you played a good game."

It was no surprise he had called her by her last name. Natalia visited New Vegas often enough that pretty much everyone knew her by name. Whether it was the casino owners, or even some of the guests everyone could point out Natalia Smirnoff.

 _And I lost hope_

 _When I was still so young_

Natalia's grin grew wider as she set her cards down, "Sorry you old gecko, you're good, but not that good. Royal Flush beats a Full House any day. Nice playin' though." She said and collected the chips in the center of the table.

The middle aged gentlemen drew a gun and pointed it at Natalia. Two men standing behind him had pointed their guns at her as well.

"I don't think so, girlie. You give me that money or I'll put a bullet through your head." He said, with his gun still pointing at her face.

Natalia froze with all of the chips near her spot at the table. All of the other people at the table were paralyzed. And she couldn't blame them. Usually in New Vegas, guns weren't allowed in the casinos. Hell, one wasn't supposed to bring a weapon at all. However, that didn't stop some from breaking that rule.

Natalia's mind scrambled to find a peaceful way out of this. She had hoped to come here to add some bottle caps to her collection. However, she also knew that people could be killed for caps.

 _Had an angel on my shoulder_

 _But the devil always won_

* * *

Jane continued to follow him, the Mojave sun beating down on her like a relentless master. She could feel it through her suit but she didn't dare take it off. She needed this armor if she was going to continue to survive.

Her boots continued making its way over rough stone. They navigated their way around treacherous rocks, desperately trying to keep up with Ulysses. Her trigger finger itched to fire her sniper rifle but she stayed her hand. Jane knew that if she shot she would be spotted.

 _And oh,_

 _I lost it all when I got hurt_

When Ulysses reached the edge of the canyon Jane hid behind a tall rock. Pressing her back against it she listened to the howling of the wind. It blew against Jane's skin wiping off the nearly dry perspiration.

Finally, Ulysses spoke up, "I know you're there, little courier. You can come out now. I know you've been tracking me."

Jane had been tracking him, but she hadn't known he had known. She had thought all of her hiding had paid off. She decided right then and there and that enough was enough. Coming out from behind the rock she held up her sniper rifle.

"Let's go, bitch!" She yelled with a wicked grin on her face.

 _And I can feel you even now_

 _Breakin' horses in the sky_

* * *

"Come on, Richards, we can talk about this, right? There's no need for anyone to get hurt." Natalia said, trying to talk him down. She knew this was a moot point but she wanted to try to avoid bloodshed if she could.

Richards, the middle aged man, and his guards still had their guns trained on Natalia. The rest of the people that had been at the table had fled long ago. The tension in the room had intensified as everyone turned to watch.

Natalia had her hand on her utility belt where she kept her knives. While a rule of casinos was that you weren't supposed to bring weapons, almost everyone ignored it. Everybody had some kind of weapon, whether it was a knife or a pistol.

Natalia looked around the room and finally, a very white person appeared on her right. His skin looked like it was falling off his face and his eyes were a bright shade of blue. These types of people were called ghouls and were common in the post-apocalyptic world. Gesturing with her eyes to Richards, she breathed a sigh of relief when the ghoul saw the stand-off between and headed toward them.

The ghoul stopped once he'd reached the table. At that moment the three men decided to put their guns down.

"What's going on here Richards? Lose at poker to a 16 year old girl again?" He asked his voice raspy and sounding like gravel. A slight grin appeared on his face at the sight. This wasn't the first time Natalia had beaten Richards at cards. Or at gambling in general.

 _I can taste you in my rage_

 _And in the sweat upon my brow_

Richards shook his head and pointed a finger at Natalia, "No this little bitch cheated. Didn't she boys?" The men behind him nodded and Natalia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

The ghoul bouncer sighed and shook his head, "Richards, this is the third time this week. Get the hell outta here and don't come back until you've cooled down, you hear?"

Natalia could tell Richards didn't like that outcome. His face tensed and his eyes were squinted like he was pissed off. Pissed off enough to want to kill someone. Shaking his head he turned to the bouncer.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Raul. This girl was tryin' to cheat me out of my hard earned money." He said, turning to look at his goons. Both men, who were abnormally large, nodded in agreement. Natalia would've laughed if it hadn't been so annoying.

Raul gave a sigh, "No, she wasn't. I won't tell you again Richards, get gone. Before I tell my boss that you're hangin' around where you're not welcome."

Richards gave a sigh and turned around. Just as he was about to leave he called over his shoulder to Natalia, "If I ever see you outside a casino again, I'm going to kill you." And with that, he left followed by his two bodyguards.

* * *

Jane grunted as she pushed Ulysses off of her. Once the other courier had called her out, she had engaged him in combat. She had originally wanted to prepare herself further beforehand but it didn't matter now.

Holding her fists out in front of her she delivered a strong right hook to his jaw. Ulysses slid backwards slightly. Wiping his chin, he came back at her with his left fist. Jane blocked it with hers and then aimed a punch at his gut.

 _And I went home_

 _Chasin' twisters in the canyon_

Bringing out a small dagger he sliced the blade across the temple of her head. Fortunately, he just barely missed her hairline. Jane brought out her own straight razor and sliced him across the neck.

Ulysses took his left hand and clamped it against the oozing red liquid pouring from his neck. Wincing in pain, Jane could see that blood was flooding out of his neck. His hands were soaked by the time he pulled it away. At that point, Jane could see the blood trickling down his neck and soaking his clothes and armor.

Taking her chance, Jane ran as fast as she could. Glancing briefly over her shoulder, Jane saw Ulysses aim his gun right at her back. His left hand was still holding his neck and his other was shaking slightly.

"Move another muscle, and I will shoot you." Ulysses said with the hand holding the gun shaking more.

 _My cathedral is the badlands_

 _Dust and devils on my conscience_

* * *

Shortly after Richards' threat Natalia had decided to make herself scarce. As soon as she had left the Atomic Wrangler, her eyes spotted three familiar figures across the street from the casino. Deciding to stick to the shadows, she got as far away from the Atomic Wrangler as she could. Ever since she had essentially become an orphan, Natalia had learned to fend for herself. This meant running when she knew she couldn't fight her enemy.

 _Come back to me, darlin'_

Allowing her right hand to go to the knife at her belt, Natalia's eyes glanced at her surroundings. There were tons of well-dressed people on the streets. Guards were stationed around the outskirts and throughout New Vegas. While the guards did tend to keep order, she didn't want to rely on them to fight her battles for her.

Natalia's dusty black military boots guided her to the Ultra Luxe, which was another casino slash hotel that was far away from the Atomic Wrangler. Not only that, but she could get a decent room for a decent price.

Natalia entered the casino and scanned the room. The Lobby had a fancy red carpet and red wallpaper. A bar was placed in the center of the room with the floor in dented to allow people to sit and drink. There was one hallway on the right side of the room that led to the inner workings of the casino and hotel. Two guards stopped her at the entrance, which made her feel slightly better about the security.

"State your business." The first well-dressed guard said. He wore a black suit and tie and his dark brown hair was short and clipped. Peering into his eyes gave Natalia the impression that he was soulless.

Both guards had their arms crossed, as if they were expecting trouble from her. Natalia couldn't blame them, as she had sometimes caused patrons of certain casinos to get mad at her for winning. Many had issued death threats, like Richards, but most had met their own graves.

"I just want a place to stay for the night. I hear it's supposed to get really cold tonight and there's supposed to be a big radiation storm." Natalia replied matter-of-factly. Technically, Mr. New Vegas had said something about a storm over the radio. And she stayed often enough at the Ultra Luxe that Marjore had designated a room for her.

 _So kiss me now_

 _This whiskey on my breath_

The second guard nodded, "Ok, go on ahead. But just be careful how much you gamble, Smirnoff. The last time you won at craps, several of the patrons complained to Marjore," Natalia made her way down the hall and regretted hearing the last part, "Including Richards."

* * *

"Don't do this Ulysses," Jane said as her eyes squinted and her body tightened. Pulling Lucky, Jane's .345 magnum, out of its position on the left side of her hip, she aimed it at the other courier, "Trust me, you really _don't_ want to do this."

Ulysses began circling her and unfortunately, Jane enticed him. Moving her feet in a dance-like motion, they guided her around in a circle. She kept her magnum trained on Ulysses' chest as he continued to bleed out over the Mojave.

 _Feel the lives that I have taken_

 _What little soul that I have left_

Ulysses' laugh was without mirth and warmth. Jane could tell he was going to prolong this and so she prepared herself mentally for what would come next. Staying light on her feet, she could feel her trigger finger itching to pull it.

"And yet, isn't that what you came here for? For this?" Ulysses gestured around them at the scene that was now occurring.

Groaning as more blood flowed from his wound, he clapped his left hand over it once more. Eventually, he would bleed out and Jane would make sure of it.

"Yes, but not for the reason that you think." Jane said and pulled the trigger on her magnum. She could feel the pull from the gun and the _boom_ as the bullet sped out of its warm chamber and into Ulysses' throat. The taller and more muscular man was thrown back slightly. However, just as he raised his right arm to shoot at Jane, she fired another round.

Watching as Ulysses hit the ground, Jane checked to see if he was still alive. Unfortunately, since she could still hear a heartbeat she decided to make things quick. Finding two pieces of parchment, she pocketed them and made a run for it. She knew he would be back, but at least by retreating she could live to fight another day. Walking away, she felt fortunate that she hadn't suffered too badly. But that didn't mean the next fight she would be as lucky.

 _And oh, my god_

 _I'll take you to the grave_

* * *

The elevator door opened and Natalia stepped out. Keeping her footsteps light, she listened to the conversation occurring down the hall. It helped that her boots were on carpet, but that didn't mean she didn't have to still be quiet.

Practically tip toeing, Natalia headed in the opposite direction of the voices. Fortunately, that was where her room was. Part of her wondered why the two men had chosen rooms that far away from her, but she didn't pretend to understand assassins.

"Hey man, do you think Marjorie will tell us where this kid's staying?" Asked one of the men, who almost looked like Frank Sinatra. He wore a black business suit with white stripes and a matching hat. His hair was dirty blond and very short.

Out of her pheripheral vision, Natalia saw the second man shrug. He was physically large and had dark tanned skin and black hair with some stubble. Sizing up the two men, she could already pinpoint which would be the easiest to fight. The first man wasn't very muscular, but he carried a lot of guns and had an air of authority about him. The second man was extremely muscular and carried a pistol or two.

The mutant man shrugged, "I don't know. But it's worth checking out." He replied and Natalia ducked into her room. Locking the door, she peeled off her leather jacket and tossed it onto one of the beds.

Natalia's room was fairly nice, but it wasn't nearly as nice as the penthouse suite. A violet rug adorned the floor, the walls were violet, and even the drapes around the slidable doors were violet. To her left was a door, which led to the bathroom. In front of her were two queen sized beds. In between the beds was a nightstand with a radio on it. Before the bombs fell, there used to be what was called a television. People used to watch it all the time, at least that's what Natalia had been told.

"So he wants to play it that way, huh?" Natalia muttered to herself as she closed the drapes. There wasn't much to see outside. At least, there wasn't anything Natalia hadn't already seen in her travels.

Outside her window the only difference between the dodo brown of the sky and ground was the horizon. Sharp rocks and cliffs dotted the landscape and Natalia knew them all. Or at least, almost all of them.

Moving to the bed closest to the drapes, she removed the pistols from underneath her pillow. While she didn't normally bring weapons into the casinos around New Vegas, she also didn't normally feel threatened either. Usually people when people grew annoyed with her they ignored her. But that wasn't the case with Richards. More or less since she had first appeared in New Vegas after more or less being orphaned, he had come after her. Natalia wasn't sure why or what for, but she was about to find out. After making certain both pistols were fully loaded she heard a knock on the door.

"Delivery for a Ms. Smirnoff from a Mr. Peter Richards. Is a Ms. Smirnoff here?" Came the voice of the first man. Natalia could hear the pounding and she knew her time was up. Strapping her pistols to her waist she also made certain that she could easily reach her eight throwing knives.

 _The only love I've ever known_

 _The only soul I've ever saved_

* * *

Calamity Jane could feel that she would have pain tomorrow. As she trudged through the Mojave, her eyes watched the horizon. Despite her aching feet and muscles, she could see it. Lights, on the horizon. The sight of New Vegas was welcoming and to Jane, it was a place to rest up before she would head out again. However, she knew she had to remain alert if she wanted to make it there.

Keeping her weight on her toes she scanned the ravine. Pebbles and rocks lined either side of her and continued to ahead. At that moment, she heard shrill high laughter. Taking out Lucky she inched closer and hid waiting for the laughter to stop. She immediately spotted the source of the laughter. Two men in white tank tops and worn black pants were standing beside a Brahmin with a large cart. In the cart were various supplies. Normally caravans traveled together, but this one seemed lost. Surrounding the two men were five or six raiders. Two of them were dragging the elderly man away from the cart. The elderly gentlemen tried to struggle but it was futile. Two of the other raiders were fighting with the younger man, who appeared to be slowly losing. The last raider was attempting to unhook the Brahmin from its cart.

"Hey, assholes, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Jane shouted, aiming Lucky at the nearest raider. Gritting her teeth she muttered to herself, "Good job, Jane, now you have five raiders ready to kick your ass."

 _And I went home_

 _Chasin' twisters in the canyon_

"Well look at what we have here, boys," Said one of the raiders. He was the nearest to her and closed the distance between them. He had a sly grin on his face and Jane kept her magnum trained on him, "We have ourselves Courier Six, same one that was shot in the head by Benny. This must be our lucky day."

He turned to his fellow raiders, "This will be an even bigger score than what Inculta Vulpes would've originally promised —"

Jane took out Lucky and pulled the trigger before he had a chance to finish.

The rest of the raiders looked from the two men and then back at their leader's body. The younger man in the caravan held a pitch fork. While that wouldn't last him very long, it was enough to defend against simple attackers.

All at once, the four raiders raced toward her. Putting away Lucky, she sunk her fist into the nearest man's throat.

Natalia opened the door and Frank Sinatra's twin immediately pushed her to the ground. Sitting on top of her his hands wrapped themselves around her throat. Squeezing her throat, Natalia gasped for a breath. Reaching for a knife on her utility belt, she took the blade and sliced the man's right hand clean off. Behind Sinatra, she could see the larger man blocking the doorway.

Sinatra howled as he got off of her and held his wrist. Red liquid gushed from the wound and Natalia seized her opportunity. Taking the same knife she stabbed him in the lower back. The man groped for the knife, but she removed it quickly. Blood flowed from that hole as well, and Natalia thrust it again. This time, it was harder and went deeper. Sinatra screamed again, blood curdling and painful. Pulling it out and waiting, Natalia plunged it as deep as it would go and eventually, Sinatra fell to the ground.

Pulling out her knife Natalia put two fingers to the man's throat. She listened for a pulse but found only silence. Picking herself up off the ground, she turned to super mutant man.

 _Come back to me darlin'_

* * *

So far, Jane's fight with the raiders wasn't going very well. She was fairly certain her left arm had been pulled out of its socket, she could feel several cuts and bruises in uncomfortable places, and she was very close to being on the ground. Two of the raiders were holding her arms, while the two that were left were aiming their guns at her.

The blonde one spoke, his voice deep, "Here's our proposition, Courier. You let us loot this caravan and in return we'll let the three of you live. On top of that, we won't tell Vulpes that you were here."

 _And I've been waiting for so long now_

Despite herself, Jane laughed. She knew they were bluffing. And she could probably fight them and have them on the ground in minutes if not seconds. However, there were civilians here and she needed to play this smart.

"After I just took out your leader? How about, no." She said, which came out braver than she had intended. Gesturing to the two men with her eyes, she saw the elderly man move behind the crate. She continued to speak, keeping the raiders distracted. "By the way, whatever Vulpes promised you is a lie."

The younger man stayed next to the Brahmin defiantly. Gritting her teeth, she could feel her captors grip tighten. Just as the blonde man was about to speak again, she saw the younger man run him through with his pitch fork. Blood stained the tips as the young man removed his weapon from the raider man.

The raider standing behind the blonde man, a gangly man with long brunet hair turned and shot the younger man. Feeling anger rise within her, Jane pulled out of her captors grip, knocking them back and grabbing Lucky. Before either of them could recover, Jane scrambled around and shot both of them in the forehead. Blood came out of their mouths and Jane aimed her gun at the last one.

Glancing briefly down at the ground, she saw that the younger man had only been shot in the shoulder. He would live, but it would take some time for his shoulder to heal. And that was if he could find a doctor soon enough to examine his wound.

"Now I'm going to strike a deal with you," Jane said pointing Lucky at the gangly man's chest. Wiping some blood off her face she could see his was quivering. And yet she was curious as to why he hadn't run yet. Then again, if he was working for Vulpes, whatever his business was had to be serious, "You can either leave this man alone and I'll let you live, or I'll spill out your guts in the sand right here and now. Your choice."

It wasn't a very hard choice. The tall gangly raider glanced at the caravan and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. However, Jane noticed that he left a piece of parchment. Ignoring that for the time being she made her way toward the younger man in the caravan. At the same time, the older gentlemen got out from behind the Brahmin.

* * *

"Close the damn door, now," Natalia said her voice devoid of emotion. The super mutant man, who looked like he was about to piss himself did as he was told. Rolling her eyes, she took a cloth from her utility belt and cleaned off her knife, "Seriously, I'm not going to kill you unless you give me a reason to. Besides, I need you."

"And why is that?" The man asked his brown eyes looking at his dead companion on the rug.

"Peter Richards is the person who hired you so don't try to tell me otherwise," Natalia went on sitting on the bed nearest to the dead man. Crossing her right leg over he left she maintained his gaze, "What I need you do to, other than take care of this filth, is to tell Richards that if he wants to kill me he's going to have to do it his damn self. Understand?"

He nodded and grabbed his dead companion's remains. Carrying the bloody man over his shoulder he opened the door and left the room. Seeing how many bystanders there were Natalia decided to handle this herself. She knew she could've called on Ultra Luxe security, but she didn't want to get caught herself. Seeing as there weren't very many people she got up and walked into her doorway.

"If you can all shut the hell up about what happened here, the next drink you have is on me." She hissed, looking at the small crowd of well-dressed men and women.

And with that, she closed the door. Yes, Marjore would most likely give her a stern lecture if not kick her out of the Ultra Luxe. Yes that would mean that Natalia would never get to stay at the Ultra Luxe again or even gamble for that matter. No that didn't bother Natalia because what had happened here, her killing one of his hit men, had sent a message to Richards. If you want to take me down, you're going to have to try a helluva lot harder than that.

 _I can feel you in the hollow_

 _And every cloud on the horizon_

* * *

"He should be stable now, but he'll need lots of rest when you get wherever you're going." Calamity Jane said as she helped the elderly gentlemen place the younger man onto the cart. After the last raider had fled Jane had taken time to wrap some cloth around the younger man's shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, at least for now.

The Brahmin seemed rather unperturbed about the entire ordeal. In fact, it seemed more annoyed that it had to keep standing in the blistering Mojave heat. It stamped its foot in annoyance.

"Thanks again for helping us. I know you could've very well just left us to die." The elderly gentlemen said mounting the cart.

Jane shook her head, "Not likely, especially with raiders." She picked up a piece of parchment she had found on the ground and put it in her bra. Shielding her eyes, she watched as the rest of the Brahmin disappeared on the horizon.

Jane noticed now that it was starting to get cooler. She knew that she had to find shelter if she was going to survive another chilly night in the Mojave. Noticing for the first time since the fight how close she was to New Vegas, she practically sprinted all the way there. She felt better knowing she was going into familiar, friendly territory.

However, there was part of her that couldn't shake the note. Her mind went to the piece of parchment in her breast, just waiting to get read. However, she also wanted to try to find a doctor in New Vegas if she could. Passing through security, she made her way to the Old Mormon Fort.

 _Come back to me darlin'_

* * *

So far, no one had tattled to Marjore about the incident that had occurred in Natalia's room. But, as she had predicted, a lot of people seemed to be buying drinks. So far the bill was one thousand caps, which left her with only five hundred left. Deciding to get some more, Natalia did what she did best. She picked out a Poker table, one where she knew she would win easily and began to play.

For dinner she had been awarded some Brahmin steaks, as well as some iguana-on-a-stick. Both were pretty good and had satisfied her. Swallowing them down with a few drinks of beer, she settled on a table. Sitting down, she sized up her opponents.

 _Don't you know I dream about you?_

 _Don't you know I dream about you?_

The first was a young man, probably in his early 20s. He had slick, black hair and wore a fancy black gangster suit that made him look like Al Capone. He didn't wear a cap, but he did have two women on his lap who were probably his call girls.

The woman next to him looked like she was in her late 40s, with graying orange hair that went down to her shoulder. She had many jewels on her fingers, and was also probably some sort of big persona here in New Vegas.

The man to the right of her wore a gray three piece suit with a vest underneath. His shoes were dirty and worn, as if he wasn't quite used to the good life yet.

The next person was a woman, with long blonde hair and gaudy looking red lipstick. She had a cigarette in her mouth and wore a long, red dress with a love V-neckline and short skirt.

Next to her was Peter Richards, wearing a very professional light violet suit. In one hand was a green looking drink and in the other was a cigarette.

Looking at her once and winking he smiled, "Ready to play again, sweetheart?" He asked just as the ghoul dealer appeared at the table. She noticed this time he didn't have his security goons with him.

There were several pieces of information that Natalia processed. The first was that Richards had clearly gotten her message and he had come to finish her off himself. The second was that she could shoot and kill Richards. She could end this rivalry but to what end? The third was that she had to keep her cool or else she would most likely get kicked out of the Ultra Luxe. Marjore had already been extremely soft on her thus far and she didn't want to lose Marjore's good graces.

Instead of sneering at him like she wanted, she returned his sly grin with one of pleasure, "I'm ready if you are you old gecko."

 _Run, run_

* * *

Fortunately, Calamity Jane had been able to find some medical assistance at the Old Mormon Fort. They had helped her pop her shoulder back in place and had given her some stimpaks for her wounds. Entering the Ultra Luxe she made her way to the bar inside the casino.

Sitting on a stool, she waited to be served. Turning her stool around she gazed over all of the Poker tables. The one closest to her was the one that caught her attention. There were two women, two men, and what looked like a teenage girl. The girl, a red head with a red, white, and blue bandana around her neck looked no older than 16 maybe 17 years old. However, from what Calamity Jane could see, she clearly had the upper hand. Despite the fact that the only man still playing, an older gentlemen in a violet suit, had placed an ace up his sleeve the girl didn't seem to mind. Laughing to herself she almost didn't hear the male bar tender talking to her.

 _Don't you know I dream about you?_

 _Run, run_

"So miss what'll it be?" He said, and Jane responded without turning around to face him.

"Just a sunset sarsaparilla for me, thanks." She replied and watched as the teenage girl won the game.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this, red? No shame in turnin' back now." Richards asked leaning back in his chair. Natalia noticed that everybody else at the table had already folded. Even the dealer seemed unnerved, but that didn't stop her.

However, she wasn't going to let Peter Richards intimidate her. Running a hand through her short hair she nodded.

 _Don't you know I dream about you?_

 _Run, run_

 _Don't you know I dream about you?_

"I was born ready." She replied and Richards practically beamed. Setting down his hand on the table, he reached out his arms and collected all of the chips.

A Full House was good, but it wasn't as good as what Natalia had. Placing her hand on the table, Richards froze. The rest of the people at the table muttered to themselves. The dealer's eyes went from Richards to Natalia.

"And once again a Royal Flush beats a Full House," Natalia replied and Richards jaw almost fell to the ground. If the tension wasn't so high, then Natalia would've laughed right then and there. However, she knew she had to act quickly. Before she could take the chips though, Richards swung a fist toward her face.

 _And I went home_

 _Chasin' twisters in the canyon_

* * *

Calamity Jane watched the fight from her bar stool. Taking another sip of sarsaparilla she saw the ginger teen dodge every punch the middle aged man threw. Without a scratch on her, the ghoul bouncers collected the man and tossed him outside. The redhead collected the chips and exchanged them for caps.

 _My cathedral is the badlands_

 _Dust and devils on my conscience_

With her interest piqued, Jane watched the young girl head toward the bar. The redhead purchased a Sunset Sarsaparilla. Turning to face her, she watched as the young girl counted out her two thousand bottle caps.

 _Come back to me darlin'_

 _And I've been waiting for so long now_

 _I can feel you in the hollow_

"So champ, what's your name and what are you doing here without a sponsor? You know you can get more money with a sponsor, right?" She said as the girl put her bottle caps in her pouch.

Now that Jane could get a closer look at the girl, she could see the freckles across her face. She could feel the age beyond her years as she stared into her piercing green eyes.

 _And every cloud on the horizon_

 _Come back to me darlin'_

"The name's Natalia. Natalia Smirnoff, like the Russian vodka, comrade. And who might you be?" She asked feistily tying the pouch back onto her utility belt.

 _Come back to me darlin'_

 _Come back to me darlin'_

* * *

Author's Note: I would like to start by saying I've never written a Fallout story before, so I apologize if things are inaccurate or weird. I have played 3, part of New Vegas, and 4 so I figured I would give it a shot. Depending on the reception of this one though, I may publish more as I do have ideas for more.

I would also like to thank SolarSurfer, as she not only allowed me to borrow her version of the Courier Calamity Jane, but she also edited this story for me. I also don't own the song used in this story, which is Chasing Twisters by Delta Rae if you're interested in looking it up. It has a good western feel to it, which is why I thought it would be perfect for a Fallout: New Vegas story. The only thing I own in this story is Natalia (my OC).


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